Epoch of Twilight

Although it had been almost a month of peace, the mental pain from the after effects had not completely subsided yet.

Huang Jiahui’s sleep was interrupted by Luo Yuan, who had just walked into their bedroom. She opened her tired eyes and quickly checked the time on her phone. It was almost midnight. Huang Jiahui refrained from complaining. "Why are you back this late? Dinner is on the table, I will warm it up for you," she said as she hustled to get out of bed.

"There’s no need for dinner now. Please go back to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow," Luo Yuan said.

"You interrupted my sleep. I can’t fall asleep right now." Huang Jia Hui sat up at the corner of the bed, revealing the smooth, soft skin of her shoulder. Wearing just her undergarments, she stood up and pulled out a long jacket. Suddenly, she noticed a shining object on the corner of the wall and said, "How beautiful! What is this thing you brought back?"

"It’s a rare mutated bird’s feather. Wasn’t I lucky to pick it up from a street stall?" Luo Yuan laughed. It had indeed been a lucky day for him. He had just been passing by the street like he normally would when he’d spotted the rare green rank mutated beast feather.

Come to think of it, it couldn’t be that hard to get a green rank mutated creature feather from someone serving in the army. Provided that they could kill such a creature, they could easily take something from it to keep as a souvenir.

However, that kind of material was only valuable for research or scientific-based organizations. Commoners did not find them useful. This feather would be a luxurious accessory to a civilian, but to Luo Yuan, it was a precious, rare material for synthesis, whose value could not be measured.

Perhaps he should walk around the market more often so he would not miss out on anything good.

"What level does this feather belong to?" Huang Jiahui asked when she saw how happy Luo Yuan was. She knew Luo Yuan had a special skill that could distinguish the level of anything.

"Six, I think!" Luo Yuan replied.

Huang Jiahui was shocked by his answer. She now understood why Luo Yuan looked so happy about this. Although she had gone through many adventures with him, she had never seen a green level creature yet, only some flesh and blood. The best she had seen had been the Archelon egg.

Curious, she walked over to touch the feather. She was amazed by its pale green color, similar to a precious stone, which emitted a mesmerizing radiance. It felt really tender and smooth to touch.

She was captured by the quality of the feather. Such quality could only be found in myths, where creatures had perfect feathers. Suddenly, she remembered that she had been about to warm up the food. "I have bought some vegetables. They’re slightly old, but they don’t taste bad. I used the remaining jerky for the soup. I need to heat it up though, it must have gone cold."

"Take it easy, you know I have good teeth. It’s not hard for me to chew cold jerky," Luo Yuan said, feeling moved.

Soon, the noise in the kitchen had woken up Wang Shishi, who had been half-asleep. Thinking of Luo Yuan, she ran out of her bedroom, wearing just a singlet-like pajama.

Her pajama was very thin and short. It did not cover much of her thighs, revealing her undergarments. Her chest was moving up and down like a rabbit’s as she ran out, showing the cream tone of her skin. Her youthful energy almost made her breasts pop out.

She stormed forward like a rabbit, wrapping herself tightly around Luo Yuan’s arm as she asked pleasantly, "Brother Luo, when did you come back? Please take me along when you go out next time! I was too bored at home!"

"You’re just not used to living a peaceful life, but you will get a chance in the future," Luo Yuan replied without moving away.

....

After Luo Yuan finished his dinner, he told Huang Jiahui to go to bed because she had to work the next morning. However, Wang Shishi was unemployed at the moment just like him, so when she heard that he was going to synthesize something, she asked to see.

Letting her watch, Luo Yuan moved the feather from his bedroom to the living room to avoid interrupting Huang Jiahui’s sleep.

"Qingming Bird Feather"

"Rarity: Green"

"Weight: 53 kg"

"Additional Abilities: Low-Thermal Plasma Field, High-Thermal Plasma Field"

"Remarks: The Qingming Bird is the king of the sky. Except when it’s reproducing, it spends its whole life living in an ionized layer, so very few people have actually seen it. Its feathers have the ability to release a strong current of a low-thermal plasma field and a high-thermal plasma field!"

"These are the two different types of ion fields!" Luo Yuan thought silently.

Even though he had read about these two types of ion fields before, he was still very astonished to see it.

He did have certain knowledge on plasma fields. A plasma field was the fourth form of mass, solid, liquid and gas being the other three, and it was divided into high-thermal plasma field and low-thermal plasma field.

High-thermal plasma field appeared in science fiction and produced high-frequency plasma. For example, the sun and all the others star in the universe contained this element. Low-thermal plasma field, on the other hand, was quite common. It could be found in television, neon lights, medical surgery and so on.

He subconsciously touched the feather, feeling amazed. Who would have thought that a single feather of only 30-40 degrees could have such a high-temperature plasma field?

Plasma temperature was normally quite high, ranging at about ten thousand degrees. Just its residual heat alone could make most creatures melt away. However, this feather did not release that kind of heat, which was kind of strange.

Observing it carefully, Luo Yuan spotted glimpses of a glow from time to time but was only able to vaguely sense its terrifyingly strong current.

After making all kinds of hypotheses, deductions, and theories, he finally reached a conclusion. There was a chance that this was a compound plasma field with a minimum of three layers. The bottom layer had to be a low-thermal plasma field, or else the Qingming Bird would not have been able to withstand the heat; the second layer had to be a high-thermal plasma field; and the outer layer had to be another low-thermal plasma field, explaining why the feathers always maintained such a low temperature.

The three layers of plasma field were intertwined, complementing each other and forming a perfect energy system. The high-thermal plasma field had a terrifying energy that was perfectly hidden within the system. The whole system was harmonized and united, so no energy leaked out from it.

Based on Luo Yuan’s knowledge as a layman, this technique exceeded the advancement of human science and technology. Such a feat would have been impossible even ten years from then.

Τhat type of compound force field was exactly like energy shields in science fiction. Most physical attacks and energy would be either absorbed or abated by the compound force.

That’s why it was warm to the touch. Perhaps it had not reached its ultimate condition yet. Once the compound force field burst, it would consume a certain amount of energy to sustain itself, no matter how sustainable it actually was. This ultimate condition could not be achieved by touching it and squeezing it.

Suddenly, Luo Yuan had a terrific idea. His forehead was dripping with sweat, and his face had turned pale.

Although the feather seemed to be harmless to humans and animals, it contained a terrifying amount of energy. Once it was synthesized and that energy was leaked, Luo Yuan would become ten times stronger. As long as he avoided turning into ashes, of course.

Luckily, he did not do it rashly.

"Brother Luo, how are you?" Wang Shishi asked after seeing Luo Yuan’s expression change.

"Fine!" Luo Yuan gave her a forced smile while he was still thinking fast.

This was not right. The energy within the feather should not be that high. After all, no matter how powerful the Qingming Bird had been, the feather was just dead material.

However, all this was just a hypothesis. He needed to conduct an actual experiment.

"Shishi, can you move away, please?" Luo Yuan asked.

"Okay!" Wang Shishi obeyed, stepping back a bit, even though she found the request strange.

When Luo Yuan saw that Wang Shishi had stepped back about four meters, he felt relieved. That distance had to be enough.

Luo picked up his Zhanmadao and took a deep breath. Immediately the Zhanmadao reflected a blazing flame. It shined like lightning, slicing through the air in a never-ending flash.

The blade of the Zhanmadao was one with his Will as it touched the tender feather. A screeching sound was produced along with a few blue and white sparks. If Luo Yuan’s eyesight had not been sharp enough, he would not have been able to see it. The next second, the feather had been cut into two.

If it was not for the blue sparks and the feather’s light resistance as it was cut through, it would have been similar to a normal green rank material.

However, it was just an illusion. Only Luo Yuan could feel how terrifying the blue sparks were as he suddenly felt all his Will getting used up, like a balloon being pierced by a sharp object.

Even though it had just been a short contact, not even 0.01 seconds long, it had consumed almost 20% of his Will. It was a really scary number. If his Will had not acted as a shield, the tip of the Zhanmadao might have melted away.

It was hard to imagine, but if it had actually happened, even Luo Yuan’s fingers would have melted and turned into gas.

Luo Yuan began to panic. That material was like a prickly hedgehog. Although its additional strength would be the perfect defense, the danger of the synthesizing process made him hesitant.

"Brother Luo, the light seems to have grown dimmer!" Wang Shishi suddenly said as she kept looking at it.

Listening to her, Luo Yuan got inspired and took a careful look at it. It was indeed dimmer.

He realized that he had gone deeper into the inertial mode of his thoughts. Despite the feather’s enormous energy, it would still be used up if he gave it enough time.

Luo Yuan waved his Zhanmadao again. This time the sparks were weaker, and the whole feather turned dimmer.

His face showed a flicker of happiness as he ruffled Wang Shishi’s hair and laughed, "You did well this time!"

Wang Shishi was confused about what she had done. Was it what she had said?

Luo Yuan quickly sliced through the feather again, dividing it into smaller, palm-sized pieces. The first few cuts produced more sparks, but in the end, the feather died. Even its temperature had gone down. Obviously, its energy had been used up.

Luo Yuan walked into his bedroom and grabbed a jacket and an undergarment.

He owned more than one set of clothes now. He had a few more that had been given to him by the city leader or Huang Jiahui. Still, he barely wore them. He preferred his own synthetic clothes, which made him feel more secure.

They weren’t just easy to clean, but also fast to dry.

It wasn’t just him. Wang Shishi and Huang Jiahui were the same as well. After going through the apocalypse, nothing was more important to them than a sense of security.

Luo Yuan’s coat was a tight battle suit. Everyone in the Reconstruction Area, soldiers and average citizens alike, had a tight battle suit. The only difference was that the soldiers’ battle suits were all the same color, while the civilians’ came in variety of colors. Some of them were even hand-made.

Luo Yuan thought of making a night-illuminating coat, but he gave up on the idea and only synthesized the undergarment.

Such a coat would be too eye-catching, and would attract unnecessary danger, causing Luo Yuan trouble. Considering that a lot of creatures were phototaxic, wearing an illuminating garment would be like asking to die.

Plus, an undergarment could be worn under a coat, In fact, Luo was unwilling to let go of the set of clothes he had made last time. Even though they were made of a lower grade material, they had the ability to reduce wind resistance, so they could maximize his speed and further enhance his effectiveness in battle. This effect could definitely not be measured by grade.

.....

He had to prepare for half an hour, but the actual synthesization only took five minutes. Before Wang Shishi’s amazed eyes, a light green undergarment was created.

The Qingming Bird had probably not used its feathers to enhance its self-protection, because the fabric was very soft, smooth and tensile. It did not have the hard feel of normal green level materials at all.

Instead, it had an exceptionally smooth, delicate texture, even more so than silk clothing. The whole set of undergarments had become a few kilograms heavier, but that seemed to be the only downside. Wang Shishi looked at it with shining eyes.

"You don’t have to be jealous. You will get one yourself when the time comes. Now go to bed. You can give me your clothes tomorrow," Luo Yuan said as he looked at her. After making a whole set of clothes, there was still a lot of material left. It would be enough to synthesize two to three more sets of clothing.

It was already late at night and the two of them were standing alone in the dim light. It would be better to continue synthesizing the next day.

After he finished speaking, Luo Yuan picked up his clothes and walked to his bedroom, using the Identification Technique.

"Plasma Field Undergarment"

"Material: Qingming Bird Feather, Cotton."

"Rarity: Green"

"Weight: 3 kg"

"Defense: 22-25"

"Additional Abilities: Composite Plasma Force Field"

"Equipment Requirements: None"

"Remarks: This is an undergarment with a Plasma Force Field. It can defend one against most energy attacks and against a certain degree of physical attacks."